# Telegram Updates Policy So Users Can Report Private Chats

Source: https://www.bankless.com/telegram-updates-policy-so-users-can-report-private-chats
Kiwi News: https://news.kiwistand.com/stories/Telegram-Updates-Policy-So-Users-Can-Report-Private-Chats?index=0x66dee7ca9bfcd29ab6dbd491cda04e2f68c61e9724b3e0fe1ff55b039b4a7e1666866b92
Submitted by misha on 2024-09-09 UTC, 3 upvotes, 2 comments

## Summary

Telegram is changing its moderation policy after CEO Pavel Durov was arrested in France for allegedly failing to combat criminal activity on the platform, including drug trafficking, fraud and child pornography distribution. The company now lets users flag illegal content in private chats and has removed the FAQ statement that all chats are private and unmonitored. Durov said French authorities had multiple ways to contact Telegram for assistance, that Telegram already removes millions of harmful posts daily, and that rapid growth has made policing the platform harder, though he promised to "significantly improve" moderation of illegal activity.

## Article

Following CEO's arrest, Telegram brings light moderation tools to the app.

Telegram is tightening its moderation policies following CEO Pavel Durov's arrest, changing how the platform handles private chats and illegal content.

What's the scoop?

Policy Shift and FAQ Update: Telegram now allows users to flag illegal content in private chats, removing its FAQ statement that all chats are private and unmonitored.

Legal Pressure: The change follows Durov’s arrest in France for allegedly failing to combat criminal activity on the platform, including drug trafficking, fraud, and child pornography distribution.

CEO's Defense: Durov pushed back, claiming French authorities had multiple ways to contact Telegram for assistance and stating that Telegram already takes down millions of harmful posts daily.

Company’s Challenges: Durov admitted the platform’s rapid growth has made it harder to police but promised to "significantly improve" moderation of illegal activity.

Bankless Take:

Telegram’s shift in moderation policy underscores the increasing tension between privacy and regulation. While the new policy may help Telegram comply with regulations, it risks alienating privacy-focused users and reshaping the platform’s identity, though Durov seems to have little choice. It will be interesting to see if bringing users into the fold to help regulate the platform yields results, given that one must imagine that if a user is already in an illegal chat, they wouldn’t have that much desire to out it.

I'm still trying to understand what happened in France. But we hear the concerns. I made it my personal goal to prevent abusers of Telegram's platform from interfering with the future of our 950+ million users.

My full post below. https://t.co/cDvRSodjst

— Pavel Durov (@durov) September 5, 2024

David Christopher

747 posts

David is a writer/analyst at Bankless. Prior to joining Bankless, he worked for a series of early-stage crypto startups and on grants from the Ethereum, Solana, and Urbit Foundations. He graduated from Skidmore College in New York. He currently lives in the Midwest and enjoys NFTs, but no longer participates in them.

## Comments

**misha**: I guess being arrested got someone thinking ;)

**tim**: > Policy Shift and FAQ Update: Telegram now allows users to flag illegal content in private chats, removing its FAQ statement that all chats are private and unmonitored.

Real life is the strangest fiction. Orwell couldn't have written it better than what is currently happening to us